Editing Preston, Lancashire (section)

===Roads===
[[File:PrestonCityCentre.jpg|thumb|North Road approaches the city centre from the north]]
[[File:Motorway - geograph.org.uk - 260605.jpg|thumb|right|The [[M6 motorway|M6 Motorway]] at Junction 29]]
{{main|Transport in Preston}}
The [[Preston By-pass]], opened 5 December 1958, became the first stretch of motorway in the UK and is now part of the [[M6 motorway|M6]] with a short section now forming part of the [[M55 motorway|M55]]. It was built to ease traffic congestion caused by tourists travelling to the popular destinations of [[Blackpool]] and [[Lake District|The Lake District]]. The first [[traffic cones]] were used during its construction, replacing red lantern paraffin burners.

In the 1980s, a motorway around the west of the city which would have been an extension of the [[M65 motorway|M65]] to the [[M55 motorway|M55]] was started but never finished. Originally, the [[M55 motorway|M55]] had no junction 2, because it was reserved for this new western bypass; however the construction of junction 2 began in 2019 and will create a link with the [[A583 road|A583]], close to the [[Riversway Docklands]], in order to alleviate traffic on the M55 and the A6 at the Broughton Interchange to the north of Preston. The project is known as the Preston Western Distributor. The [[M6 motorway|M6]] between junctions 30 and 32 was widened extensively between 1993–95 to compensate. Junction 31A which has only a northbound exit and a southbound entry opened in 1997 to serve a nearby business park. Other motorways terminating close to the city are the [[M61 motorway|M61]] – Preston to [[Manchester]] via [[Chorley]] and [[Bolton]],
the [[M65 motorway|M65]] – Preston to [[Colne]] via [[Blackburn]], [[Accrington]] and [[Burnley]] and the [[M55 motorway|M55]] – Preston to [[Blackpool]] via [[Kirkham, Lancashire|Kirkham]].

Preston has several Taxi, Private Hire and Cab Companies serving Preston and surrounding Villages, including Millers, Uber and [http://www.allprestontaxis.co.uk|All Preston Taxis]

In conjunction with car parking facilities at the bus station, local services operate to and from two [[Preston Park & Ride|park and rides]] located on the outskirts of the city to minimise private vehicular traffic in the city centre; one at Portway in the [[Riversway]] area, and the other off the [[A6 road (England)|A6]] at [[Walton-le-Dale]].

[[File:Preston bus station 232-26.jpg|thumb|[[Preston bus station]]]]
Local, regional and national bus services operate from the [[Preston bus station]], which is located on the southeast edge of the city centre off the A59 and claimed by some residents to be the largest or second largest station in Europe.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lep.co.uk/news/opinion_2_1845/second_best_city_1_162364 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907104929/http://www.lep.co.uk/news/opinion_2_1845/second_best_city_1_162364 |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 September 2012 |title=Second-best city |access-date=7 July 2010 |newspaper=Lancashire Evening Post }}</ref>

====National and regional bus services====
The national operators [[National Express Coaches|National Express]], [[Eurolines]], and [[Megabus (Europe)|Megabus]] provide services from the bus station to and from various major cities and destination en-route across the United Kingdom.

Stagecoach provides services to the nearby towns and cities of [[Blackpool]], [[Blackburn]], [[Bolton]], [[Liverpool]], [[Manchester]], [[Southport]] and [[Metropolitan Borough of Wigan|Wigan]] as well as [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]] and [[Morecambe]] under the [[Stagecoach in Lancaster]] service.

[[Blackburn Bus Company]], part of the [[Transdev]] group, operates the 152 Hotline route to Blackburn and [[Burnley]]. An independent company, [[John Fishwick & Sons]], that provided frequent services into the city centre from Lower Penwortham, Lostock Hall, Leyland, Euxton and Chorley, ceased trading in October 2015.

====Local bus services====
Many services between Preston and the surrounding area are operated by [[Ribble Motor Services]] which became part of the [[Stagecoach Group]], using the name [[Stagecoach in Lancashire]].

[[Preston Bus]], formerly the city's [[municipal bus company]], operate local services within the city.

In October 2006, Preston Bus started operating two orbital bus routes.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wsWeedUr5QkC&pg=PA145 |title=Stagecoach Group Plc/Preston Bus Limited: A Report on the Completed Acquisition by Stagecoach Group Plc of Preston Bus Limited |author=[[Competition Commission]] |publisher=The Stationery Office |page=145 |isbn=978-0-11-706375-4 |year=2009 |access-date=29 April 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
[[Preston Bus#History|Competition]] for routes and passengers resulted in a [[bus war]] between the two companies after buses were [[Bus deregulation in the United Kingdom|deregulated]]. On 23 January 2009, Preston Bus was sold to Stagecoach<ref name=bus-hist>{{cite web |url=http://www.prestonbus.co.uk/about/TheHistoryofPublicTransportinPreston_3.html |title=The History of Public Transport in Preston |publisher=Preston Bus |access-date=25 April 2012 |archive-date=9 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109145017/http://www.prestonbus.co.uk/about/TheHistoryofPublicTransportinPreston_3.html |url-status=live }}</ref> for over £10.4 million. Routes were changed and the services were branded [[Stagecoach in Preston]]. Following a lengthy investigation which began soon after the takeover, the Competition Commission ruled on 11 November 2009 that the action by Stagecoach had adversely affected competition in the area and ordered it to sell Preston Bus. In January 2011, [[Rotala]] announced it had agreed to take over Preston Bus.<ref name=bus-hist/>

====Bus stop displays====
Preston was one of the first cities in the UK to have displays fitted to every bus stop which aim to provide an accurate time and destination of the next bus arriving using [[GPS tracking]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.qlocal.co.uk/ormskirk/news_list/Real_Time_Bus_Information_for_Lancashire-20484.htm |title=Real Time Bus Information for Lancashire |publisher=Ormskirk Online News |date=27 March 2003 |access-date=25 April 2012 |archive-date=9 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109145007/https://www.qlocal.co.uk/ormskirk/news_list/Real_Time_Bus_Information_for_Lancashire-20484.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The service, initially restricted to services within the borough, was expanded to cover Fishwick's 111 Preston to Leyland route but was discontinued in 2011,<ref>[http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/campaigns/save-our-buses/lancashire Lancashire | Campaign for Better Transport] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508112210/http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/campaigns/save-our-buses/lancashire |date=8 May 2014 }}. Bettertransport.org.uk. Retrieved on 17 July 2013.</ref> and reinstated on some routes in 2013.